Two more wins appear to be tall order for Haslett

The magic number is two for Jim Haslett to return as head coach of the Rams next season.

According to team sources, Haslett was told by club owner Chip Rosenbloom that he needs to win a couple of games to be retained as head coach in 2009 and beyond.

Given the team's injury situation, and its five-game losing streak, that looks like a tall order over the final five weeks of this season. Starting with Sunday's home game against Miami (6-5), three of the remaining contests are against playoff contenders. The Rams also play Arizona (7-4) and Atlanta (7-4) on the road.

That leaves home games with Seattle (2-9) and San Francisco (3-8), both of which hammered St. Louis earlier this season.

Haslett met with owners Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez for about two hours Saturday.

"We talked about the future of the team," Haslett said. "We talked about the present. We talked about the offseason. We talked about a lot of different things. Why we have the record we have. We talked about the players. We talked about the people in the building (at Rams Park).

"It was a good meeting. It was a chance to get to meet Chip and Lucia. I thought it was very productive. I don't know where it's going to go from here."

Haslett didn't directly address the two-victory mandate, but he did note: "I think Chip got on the table what he expects. And hopefully we can fulfill that. We're going to try."

There is strong support for Haslett in the locker room, contrary to the largely muted responses in the final weeks of the Mike Martz and Scott Linehan tenures.

"He's a good coach," defensive end Leonard Little said of Haslett. "If they bring somebody else in here, he won't know really what we need. (Haslett) has been around here for three years. … He knows our strengths; he knows our weaknesses. That's the biggest thing. He's familiar with this team."

But if the players truly want to get Haslett back in 2009, they're going to have to upgrade their performance significantly over the pathetic showings of the past four Sundays. In losses to Arizona, the New York Jets, San Francisco and Chicago, the Rams have been defeated by an average score of 36-9.

With the exception of about 15 plays against Arizona, all five losses during the current losing streak have taken place without the team's top player, Steven Jackson. There have been loads of other injuries as well since Haslett took over for Linehan. Even so, if the team loses four or five more times by season's end, it may simply be too hard to sell Haslett to the fans as the team's head coach in 2009.

Some way, somehow, the Rams must break out of their recent cycle of falling behind miserably in the first half. Over the past four Sundays, the closest they've been at halftime is a 17-point deficit against the Cardinals. For a team that's averaging only 13.4 points a game — and has scored 20 or more points only once — any three-score deficit is fatal.

"It's a bad cycle," Haslett said. "You've just got to keep working at it, keep pushing along, and hopefully we'll come out of this. … I think everybody's frustrated. That's why you see some of the things going on."

There's only one sure way to get beyond the frustration — win a game. Or at least come close.

"Right now, we're not doing either one of them," Haslett said.

After being immersed fully in one side of the football for two years and four games as defensive coordinator, Haslett has had seven games to see the full picture. Namely, defense, offense and special teams. It's not a pretty picture, which raises the questions: Does he still want the job, and is this situation salvageable?

"We've got some work to do," Haslett said. "I think it can be done. It'll take a little bit of time, but I've told you this, I don't think this team is far off from being a pretty good football team.

"I do think there are some pieces missing, like most teams, and I do think you can get them in the offseason. But right now, we're not at that stage. We're trying to fight through some things. Obviously, we need our running back (Jackson) back. Now we need to get our quarterback (Marc Bulger) back. These young receivers have got to keep maturing the way they are, and we've got to play better up front."

Re: Two more wins appear to be tall order for Haslett

Is it just me, or is it unsettling to anybody else, that the future of our favorite team is being formulated by a housewife, a movie producer, and the guy who put together our current defense??

Very astute! You are right, this is like a bad dream. I frankly don't want Haslett back. I think there better Assistants or Coordinators out there whom we should groom into a great coach with players on the rise.

Of course Little is going to say he wants Haslett around. How long is he still going to play? A new coach might bench him or install a new sytem that takes time for him to adjust to.

I have been reading abut Jim Schwartz of the Titans, he's the DC over there and he's one of the rising stars in the league. He's a Georgetown grad who analyzes the game from a statistical perspective a la Billy Beane in baseball. We have to get out from the current regime of coaches that Linehan brought in and start from scratch.

Re: Two more wins appear to be tall order for Haslett

Originally Posted by mde8352gorams

Very astute! You are right, this is like a bad dream. I frankly don't want Haslett back. I think there better Assistants or Coordinators out there whom we should groom into a great coach with players on the rise.

Of course Little is going to say he wants Haslett around. How long is he still going to play? A new coach might bench him or install a new sytem that takes time for him to adjust to.

I have been reading abut Jim Schwartz of the Titans, he's the DC over there and he's one of the rising stars in the league. He's a Georgetown grad who analyzes the game from a statistical perspective a la Billy Beane in baseball. We have to get out from the current regime of coaches that Linehan brought in and start from scratch.

What says anyone about Jim Schwartz?

Go Rams!

Schwartz would be a good choice, Titans D is strong, Ron Rivera or Steve Spagnola would make my short list. Coordinators scare me from the standpoint of can they adjust from being specialized on one side of the ball to seeing the whole picture, a quality a head coach should have IMO. But coordinators seem to be the trend in the league so we'll see.

Re: Two more wins appear to be tall order for Haslett

This is when you know your franchise is a joke. We have two winnable games against the Seahawks and Niners, and if we somehow upset any of the other teams, Haslett could very well be here next year. Just because you like a guy (FOSL) does not mean he is the right man for the job.

Re: Two more wins appear to be tall order for Haslett

I find the whole premise of this article to be suspect. The league has already advised the Rams that they are not permitted to guarantee Haslett's return if he meets a specified win total, as doing so would circumvent the "Rooney Rule." How is it that there is now a hard and fast goal of 2 wins?

Re: Two more wins appear to be tall order for Haslett

Leonard Little put it as perfect as it gets. He knows how this team is. He has been sidelined because Linehan has held back his coaches.

When The Haz took control, we won two games and got close in one. I don't know what happened there. I really think that the Haz should come back and make his own team.

Keep the players we need and add more we need.

I don't think anyone wants to come over to the Rams and coach. All your guys' dream about having Schottenheimer and Cohwer coming over isn't going to happen.

Then all the assistants and coordinates are most likely going to stay with their strong teams. I really don't see anyone we can get excited about coming over to coach this team. The last time we got a rookie head coach, it was Linehan and we watched him ruin this team.

I know I will get blasted, but the Haz is our best chance. He's the only one who will want to come back and fix this team.